Soviet Artillery Spotter observe range

I was playing a fairly lulzy game with a bunch of friends on Orel (I think that's the name... The 4v4 with the big river in the middle which just ends up being a ridiculous-amount-of-tanks-and-arty-fest) and I thought it would be a good idea to get a sniper team to spot for my more ranged weaponry. Unfortunately, to my disappointment, the spotter didn't increase the viewing range beyond that of the rest of my units (AT guns, Outpost, conscripts, command squad, IS-2 etc) even when using the observe mode.

I'm now wondering what the values of the observe skill are? How much is it supposed to increase view range by, and does it even work at all? If it does, is it working as intended?

Spotter should have the standard view range as default. Putting them in observer mode immobilises them and increases view by around 20 or something.

I really wish I knew how far that is in game :/ As it is now it doesn't strike me as particularly useful though, as it can't be an awful lot.

Dot.Shadow wrote:
I really wish I knew how far that is in game :/ As it is now it doesn't strike me as particularly useful though, as it can't be an awful lot.

Using observer mode allows you to see ahead greatly beyond your normal LOS.

Standard sight range is 35. 20 Beyond that is 55, the maximum range of the Firefly. You can use direct fire mode to test distances (most tanks have a range of 40, american TDs have 45, ATGs have 60, zooks/shrecks/all handheld has 35, etc). The 'minimum throw distance' of grenades is 5 afaik, if you wanted to test that as well or use it as a reference.

Can you throw satchels farther than grenades?

I dont think so. I think Satchel Charges may actually have smaller ranges :P

Fishhunterx wrote:
I dont think so. I think Satchel Charges may actually have smaller ranges :P

+1

I'm curious, is the spotter team getting any changes in the future? It doesn't strike me as particularly useful as it is right now. 100 munitions for an arty strike is a lot of munitions for the soviets, which are better spent on other things in the armoury.

Since one of balancers said that Soviets are getting munitions cost for all abilities I guess this stupid munitions upkeep will be finally removed, so you will have a lot of munitions to bomb shit out of your enemies.

100 isn't a lot for an arty strike. If you're up against an FHQ strat with many volks and maybe a med bunker you could go your standard T1-T2 and place an arty strike when the time is right. You don't need anything from the armoury for this, you can spend your next munitions and fuel on red banner strelky. Anyway, the point is it seems perfect to me.

cephalos wrote:
, so you will have a lot of munitions to bomb shit out of your enemies.

Lol? soviets are low on munitions all the time. Feels like playing wehr :`(

Killar wrote:

cephalos wrote:
, so you will have a lot of munitions to bomb shit out of your enemies.

Lol? soviets are low on munitions all the time. Feels like playing wehr :`(

Glad to see someone with the balancer tag finally agreeing with me on something xD

Maybe Spotter team should have the ability to cloak. Would make them more useful :P

I'd prefer if the Spotter Team didn't exist at all, I miss my old 2 man sniper team with all the abilities intact :'( :'( :'( :'(

neosdark wrote:
I'd prefer if the Spotter Team didn't exist at all, I miss my old 2 man sniper team with all the abilities intact :'( :'( :'( :'(

I dont think they are going back to that :P

IIRC was labeled as OP due to having superior survivability than any other sniper. That's why was changed.

The sniper team wasn't very noob friendly, but anyone who knows how to play properly can easily take down a sniper team. Countersniping is just one way to take down a sniper, and in this case it's just represents people's inability to adapt to a new challenge. I truly wish the sniper team comes back, as it was something very unique for the soviets, which made for such a way more interesting experience.

It only made them OP. That squad was better than the sniper ace.

without vet? maybe. with vet i disagree.

Fishhunterx wrote:

neosdark wrote:
I'd prefer if the Spotter Team didn't exist at all, I miss my old 2 man sniper team with all the abilities intact :'( :'( :'( :'(

I dont think they are going back to that :P

I agree with Fishhunterx :P

Dot.Shadow wrote:
The sniper team wasn't very noob friendly, but anyone who knows how to play properly can easily take down a sniper team. Countersniping is just one way to take down a sniper, and in this case it's just represents people's inability to adapt to a new challenge. I truly wish the sniper team comes back, as it was something very unique for the soviets, which made for such a way more interesting experience.

No.

It was cheap to spam, had an arty ability, could only be counter sniped properly with two snipers, because one sniper only kills one person, allows the team to get away or counter snipe the countersniper. It's a proper unit the way we separated it.

I agree. It's one of my favourite parts of the faction.

stealthattack1 wrote:
without vet? maybe. with vet i disagree.

In a sense the old 2 man sniper team is stonger. It had artillery, spotter ability, 2 ppl, and you could reinforce it. The sinper ace has faster rate of fire and special vet abilites but can be counter sniped(regular health), no spotter ability (but special pin ability), and cost a whooping 850 mp (almost as much as an IS-3  :o)

Well perhaps adding the 2 man team back, but removing the artillery ability, would be fair then? Not to mention that you fixed the counter sniping issue with the fix that made snipers target the man with the sniper rifle in the team first.

It isn't going to happen mate, sorry. The current split upgrade system works fine and is much more balanced than the old sniper teams. The old sniper teams were also skilless, requiring just an attack move command to wtfpwn everything.

That's really sad, it made the faction so much, much more interesting. I'm very anxious to see how the current spotter team performs after the next patch, so I'm not going to say anything more about it till then.

Maybe we could give it an ability that works similar to Radio triangulation :P

Yes, the 2 man team is iconic and unique but a pain to balance. So we tried to at least keep some uniqueness with the split upgrade system.

GodlikeDennis wrote:
Yes, the 2 man team is iconic and unique but a pain to balance. So we tried to at least keep some uniqueness with the split upgrade system.

im confued why the sniper before upgrade cant shoot or kill very well, like hes just armed with a mossin?

why not start him like a reg sniper but if upgraded to spotter take away the sniper rifle and grant the second man so it becomes like a two man rifle team.
of course with all the goods the observer gets.

Last edited February 5, 2012 at 6:27 AM by conscript900

The spotter team is cheaper than the Sniper.